For all the potential there is in superheroes to make fantastic games about them, it hasn’t quite happened yet. It’s small wonder that people were blown away by Rocksteady’s Batman. Expectations were not high, so it would have taken a game that was only slightly above competent for gamers to get excited. Instead, we were treated to a genuinely fantastic recreation of Arkham Asylum, stalking foes with an array of gadgets and watching superbly voice-acted cutscenes with some of DC’s most beloved villains. Batman has proven to be an exception to the rule thus far. Spider-Man, meanwhile, has been making valiant efforts to wow us since the early days of the 360. His games have ranged from the awful to the serviceable. With The Amazing Spider-Man film and its sequel attempting to revitalise the franchise - after Tobey Maguire’s turn to the Emo Side - could the same be done for Spidey’s video game equivalent?
The short answer is no. However, this is not a resounding ‘no’; it does have some caveats attached. There are quite a few things to appreciate while web-slinging your way around a faithfully created virtual New York. The problem is that for every enjoyable moment the game offers up, it’s countered by something bland and repetitive that immediately undoes all the good momentum it was creating.
Take, for example, the story and voice acting. Developer Beenox should be commended for not performing a simple cut-and-paste job of the film’s plot. Instead, they have attempted to craft an original story while maintaining some of the threads explored on screen, such as Harry Osborne’s desire for Spider-Man’s blood in order to heal himself of his fatal disease. While not securing the voice acting from the film, those that have been brought in do a good job. However, while cutscenes may be decent, the gameplay that surrounds it falls short. Having buddied up with Kraven, a serial-hunter, it came as no great shock to discover he was actually preying on Spider-Man himself. After this ‘big’ reveal, you have the chance to take him down yourself, in what must go down as one of the most uninspired boss fights in recent memory. Attack a few times, use your web-pull ability to remove him from his hiding place, and repeat until victory. This wasn’t the first fight to devolve into such tedium, but having had such a focus on the relationship between these two characters, the subsequent betrayal and fight ought to have had a greater impact than it did.
Like many aspects of the game, the fighting mirrors that of Batman. Attacking is a simple process of tapping ‘X’, then countering with a timed button press when an enemy turns red. Later enemies require a bit of extra work, though without Batman’s array of gadgets, it all feels like a rather forced attempt to open up the combat, without any real substance. Not being overly familiar with the comics, Spider-Man’s access to a Seismic Blast used to stun large enemies seems out of place. And as with many previous Spidey games, the camera struggles to keep up with his lightning quick movement. Fights regularly turn into a case of trying to spin the camera in order to see which enemies remain, or jumping around like a lunatic to get close to someone.
Stealth sections are also brought to you courtesy of Batman. Yet in a disappointingly recurring theme, it fails to do anything unique or interesting with them. Side missions where you infiltrate Russian Hideouts lead to nice rewards in the form of new, upgradeable suits, but the act of obtaining them is tedious. There is very little variation to the areas, all set in disused parts of New York’s labyrinthine subway, itself another nod to the film version. There is none of the sense of scale that even Arkham Asylum, or the right tone for stalking enemies. Spider-Man is a wise-cracking teen with mutated DNA, as likely to talk you into submission as he is fight you. Batman is the Dark Knight, instilling fear into his enemies and sticking to the darkness. It’s possible to fail these missions too – an ‘awareness’ meter keeps track of your stealthiness. Fill it up and the suit is locked up tight, forcing you to restart.
These stealth missions are just one of a handful of side missions…a handful that are repeated to death. Saving civilians from burning buildings, clearing out bombs, rescuing kidnap victims and beating up thugs represents the guts of what you will do in between story missions. The difference from one burning building rescue to the next is merely cosmetic. The reason for doing them is to try and fill you Hero Meter. Have it on the right side and you’re free to swing about as the city’s beloved vigilante. Slip into the negative side by ignoring too many situations and you’ll be forced to fight off annoying drones, which have the habit of following you while you swing through the streets. Not that destroying them is any great task, it’s more of an irritation while you’re enjoying the best part about the game.
Swinging around such a vast playground is fantastic. Spider-Man is the most agile character you are likely to have ever controlled. Simple taps of the triggers shoots out webbing and propels our hero along. Keep close to street level and you can pick up some tremendous speed, clearing large swathes of the city in seconds. Falling is never an issue, as a tap of the A button will see Spider-Man shoot back up into the air. It’s also possible to enter Web Rush mode, which slows down time, allowing you to pick a location for Spidey to zip to in record time. His movement is reminiscent is comparable to anything seen in the films, falling gracefully from great heights until the last moment you fire out a web strand. When he reaches the peak of a swing, releasing the trigger has him performing all manner of flips and twists before it’s time to fire out another. It’s clear that such a vital part of any Spider-Man game has been given plenty of attention, which makes it an even greater shame that the rest of the game falls so short.
My first impression of the game was that it was a cut price one, perhaps even an Arcade title. If that were the case, I would have no problem in recommending it, particularly if you’re a big fan of this superhero. The game does a good job of servicing fans of the comics and the films: there are the multiple suits which you can earn, comics to collect and even a cameo from the great Stan Lee himself (aptly enough, he runs a comic store). However, as a full price title, it’s hard to advise you parting with your money. Up against other open world titles, especially the just-released Watch Dogs, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 does not do enough to justify the cost. The combat lacks any innovation, and I found it easy to defeat many enemies before remembering to buy an upgrade. The most disappointing aspect was the lack of activities to do, considering how much of Manhattan you’re given to explore. A bit more care in this department, and a bit less desperation in turning to the ideas that made Batman so good, and we may have had a really good game on our hands. In the end, what we have is only a competent actioner that is best picked up at a reduced price, when all better alternatives have been expended.
